


Inconveniently Different

by OldTsuki



Series: Inconveniently [8]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Back to School, Betty's discovery of what being a Serpent involves, F/M, Post-Season 2, Serpent Pride, Serpent laws, Southside Seprents, Veronica's speakeasy, autumn in Riverdale, background choni, background varchie, protective!jughead, some sweet fluff toward the end, what it means to be a serpent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-23 13:30:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14935184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldTsuki/pseuds/OldTsuki
Summary: It's the first day of school, and Betty Cooper has definitely changed over the summer. Between her new affiliations with a certain Southside gang, and the news that her father was the infamous Black Hood, there are plenty of reasons for her first day back to be less than welcoming.Final installment of "Inconveniently" for the Southside Showcase! Day 8: Southside Pride.





	Inconveniently Different

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the final installment in the Southside Showcase! This has been a ton of fun to work on this week. I hope you've enjoyed too!
> 
> I made up these teachers, turns out there have been none listed other than Ms Grundy so far...to my knowledge! Someone tell me when they credit the Riverdale High faculty.

It felt like any other first day of school, and so far she’d had twelve of them in her life, so she thought she had plenty of material to compare. She woke up and pulled on the plain blue knit shirt and grey dress pants that she’d set out the night before. Brushing her hair back into her ponytail, she sat at her vanity and carefully applied her makeup. Betty double-checked her appearance before going to her bedroom window, smiling lightly as she glimpsed Archie shrugging into his letterman jacket in the house next door. She carefully slid the pane up and let the cool morning air brush over her face. Slightly surprised by how unusually chilly it felt, especially after the incredibly humid summer months, Betty slid the window closed and turned back to her bedroom with a thoughtful expression.

Really, it was cold enough for a jacket.

She came downstairs with her backpack already on, carrying a heavy garment over one arm. Unlike years past, her mother wasn’t waiting in the kitchen when she reached the bottom of the stairs. No breakfast was there to greet her, no camera pointed in her face, just...silence. Since her mom had come back from the Farm, she hadn’t been herself. In a way, a silent house on the morning before school was a relief. Betty still looked worryingly toward her mother’s room as she grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter, heading for the door.

She put on the jacket she’d carried downstairs, no longer needing to worry about her mother’s opinion. As Betty walked out the front door, she made sure to lock it behind herself, dropping her keys into her purse.

Leaning against his motorcycle at the end of her front walk was Jughead, smiling at her as she came down the steps. If he had anything to say about her choice of autumn apparel, he kept it to himself. From the way his eyes were smiling, Betty thought that he might have been proud. In contrast, he was wearing his usual sherpa-lined jean jacket. He held out a helmet and quipped, “Ready to face the pack again?”

Betty smiled easily and pulled the helmet over her head, careful not to mess up her ponytail. As she climbed onto the back of the bike and slipped her arms around Jughead’s abdomen, she said, “I’m not afraid of a few Bulldogs, Jug.”

His response was the bike roaring to life, and Betty held on a little tighter as they drove the short distance to Riverdale High. There was a short line of vehicles waiting to pull into the student lot when they got there, including a few other motorcycles. As Betty looked over the faces of the drivers, she saw several of her friends and a few of their teachers. Was it her imagination that they were all looking back at her with disapproval in their eyes?

They found a parking spot and Betty carefully removed her helmet, handing it to Jughead. He drew his backpack out of the bag on the back of the bike and slung it over his shoulders, then slid his hand easily into hers. Weaving their fingers together, they walked across the lot and into their Junior year.

Inside, they had to split up briefly to visit their lockers. Betty let go of Jughead’s hand and turned down the first hall, after giving him a quick kiss and promising to meet in the student lounge before class. As she came around the corner, she nearly collided with Ethel Muggs.

The tall girl blinked down at Betty in surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry, Betty--” she started to say, but stopped speaking abruptly. Looking down with wide eyes, she said quietly, “Betty? Did you join the Serpents?”

She adjusted her backpack again, feeling the tiniest bit self-conscious, but then she lifted her chin. Betty looked up with as much calm as she could muster and said, “Yeah, Ethel, I did.”

Her friend glanced quickly away, fidgeting with her books. “Oh,” she said. Then, awkwardly, she added, “See you in class.”

Ethel hurried away, allowing Betty to continue to her locker. If she was troubled by the unusual reaction of her friend, she didn’t let it linger in her mind. Betty twisted the dial to put in her combination, feeling a little rusty after going all summer without needing to use it. As the door swung open, she set her backpack at her feet and began to shrug out of her leather jacket. Weatherbee’s directive still stood, after all, and she couldn’t go around wearing it all day. It had been exactly what she needed on the chilly ride to school, though.

When she closed her locker, she looked over her shoulder and saw the door to the teacher’s lounge open. Betty smiled and waved lightly to her history teacher and her math teacher from the year before, who were both holding coffee cups and looking in her direction. The history teacher’s face flashed a brief smile before she reached out and pulled the door closed.

She made her way to the student lounge and immediately relaxed as she caught sight of Veronica and Archie relaxing on a loveseat. Jughead was leaning against the arm of the couch next to them, frowning down at an open paperback. And in the armchair at their side was--

“Kevin!” Betty said with a grin. He stood up and hugged her in greeting, echoing her smile.

“Betty,” he said, then he glanced over as Toni and Sweet Pea made their way into the lounge. “What’s this I hear about you getting arrested this summer?”

Her enthusiasm sputtered immediately. Jughead shook his head, glancing up from his book with a scowl. “How could you possibly hear that, Kevin?” he muttered, his tone dry with a lack of surprise.

Kevin looked over at him and shrugged. “My house is still usually cop central,” he commented. “Dad had a lot of barbecues this summer with his free time.” Turning back to Betty, he raised his eyebrows impatiently.

She rolled her eyes in response. “It was nothing, Kev. We were walking through Pickens Park after the sunset.”

He laughed and said, “Oh, Betty Cooper, you and your life of crime.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that too, knowing how ridiculous the entire situation had been. Nevermind how angry she’d felt about being profiled--how angry she still felt about the way that people on this side of town were treating her and her friends. Some of Jughead’s righteous crusade from the previous school year was really making sense to her now, on a personal level.

Cheryl appeared in the doorway at that moment. She was wearing a black pencil skirt over fishnet, red spiked heels, and a cream blouse beneath her custom red leather Serpent jacket. Whatever Kevin might have been saying to tease Betty, the joke paled in comparison to the fiery entrance made by the one true Blossom heir. In fact, most of the conversations in the room died as she cast her gaze around the lounge.

“Welcome back, peons,” she said smoothly.

Jughead was the first to break the silence. Straightening from his spot on the arm of the couch, he walked over to her and said something slightly too low for Betty to hear. Cheryl looked at him with a challenging expression, but Jughead’s gaze in response remained steady. Whatever he’d said, he wasn’t backing down.

She rolled her eyes with a huff. “Whatever,” she muttered, turning and leaving the lounge just as thunderously as she’d entered. Glancing over at Jughead with an annoyed look, Toni quickly followed.

Kevin’s eyebrows might have re-joined his hairline as he watched. Leaning over, he said quietly to Betty, “Did Jughead Jones just tell Cheryl Blossom to do something… _and she listened?_ ”

Betty couldn’t stop herself from smirking. Matching his quiet tone, she said, “I think so, Kev.”

He blinked and shook his head, like he was trying to clear away his shock. “What sort of alternate reality are we living in now?” he muttered in amazement, sinking back onto the armchair.

As the bell rang for first period, Betty fell into step with Veronica. They would be together until lunch with their new schedules. Both girls chose seats near the front of the classroom, talking cheerfully about Veronica’s plans to open her new business at the end of the week. During the summer, she’d hired some of the displaced Serpents to refurbish the bar beneath Pop’s, bringing it into the modern era. Now that the paint was dry, the light fixtures were installed, and the flatware had been delivered, all she was missing were the customers.

“Josie said she’d perform on opening night,” Veronica was whispering with a smile. She always got more animated when she was working on an event. Betty couldn’t help sharing her enthusiasm, excited that her friend was taking her first step toward becoming a legitimate businesswoman. After the legacy her father had established, it would be a long a difficult road. Just like the road Betty had to forge for herself, now.

Their US History teacher entered the room, setting down a cup of coffee on the desk and turning to the board. Ms. Evans had taught World History the year before, too, so Betty found her immediately familiar. In scrolling cursive, she wrote, “ _How I have changed over the summer,_ ” on the board and turned back to face the class.

“As a warm-up, since many of us already know one another, please respond to this prompt in your notebooks,” Ms. Evans announced. Then she came around her desk and approached Betty, leaning down to say, “If we could speak in the hall for a moment, Ms. Cooper?”

She glanced over at Veronica with a frown, but got out of her desk and obediently walked outside. Ms. Evans kept the door just slightly cracked, enough that she could see everyone writing dutifully in their notebooks. At the back of the room, Reggie seized the opportunity and threw a crumpled piece of paper at the back of Moose’s head.

Betty couldn’t help anxiously sliding her hands into her pockets, but she smiled politely as Ms. Evans turned to regard her. She was completely unused to being called out of the class as if she’d done something wrong.

“Betty, I heard a few things this summer that concerned me,” she said quietly, her expression grave. “I just wanted to let you know that you have _options_. You’re a very bright student, and I would hate to see anything prevent you from being successful after graduation.”

Surprised by the admission, Betty couldn’t do much other than stare as she spoke. Clearing her throat a bit, she said, “Is this about my dad, Ms. Evans?”

Her teacher’s expression was sad. “Not just about that, Betty. If you ever need to talk about anything going on outside of school--”

Betty interrupted. “I’m okay,” she said quickly, unable to meet Ms. Evans’ eyes. She took a step toward the classroom, trying to signal that she felt like the conversation could end.

Her teacher lingered momentarily, looking like she wanted to say something else, and then she sighed. Gesturing, she said, “Alright, Betty. Then let’s get back to class.”

It wasn’t the only conversation Betty had that day in the relative privacy of the hallway. By the time she was going to lunch, she felt like she’d reassured half the school that she was fine. As she walked toward her locker to collect her lunch, she felt a warm hand slide lightly over her arm. Betty turned, finding herself almost bumping noses with Jughead.

“Archie had something to show us in the courtyard,” he said quickly, and seemed slightly out of breath. Betty raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“Okay, just let me get my lunch,” she said, starting to turn toward her locker again.

Jughead didn’t let go. “No, Betty, we’ll get it later,” he said, pulling her in the other direction. “This can’t wait.”

Giving in, Betty let herself be dragged along. She felt like the students they passed in the hall were looking at her for some reason, but she chalked it up to the rumors obviously flooding through the building about her Serpent initiation. Wearing her jacket that morning had been a semi-calculated ploy to quietly confirm and diffuse any suspicions, but apparently no one at Riverdale High had anything better to discuss than the corruption of the student event committee chairwoman.

As Jughead led her out into the sunlit courtyard, she immediately saw Archie with a small book in his hand. Now getting a little suspicious about her boyfriend’s unusual behavior, Betty glanced at him.

“Did you pull me out here to help Archie with his homework, Jug?” she asked, frowning. “Why couldn’t that wait until I got my lunch?”

They were close enough that Archie heard. He interjected and announced, “I already had American Lit, Betty. Mr. Foster said that I had fifteen minutes to get my book out of my locker and turn in the annotation. But I didn’t do it at all over the summer. I need your help.”

She crossed her arms. “Just underline some stuff, Archie, and make it look like you read it.” Looking back at Jughead, she flashed another inquisitive expression.

He was looking at his phone and didn’t see it. Glancing up, he caught her eye and immediately smiled, though it looked forced. Betty knew both of them well enough to tell that something else was going on. She looked from Jughead to Archie, and then back at the door to the school.

The guys were trying to communicate silently while she looked away, their eyebrows and nods almost comically obvious. When Archie saw Betty looking at them, he immediately said, “Oh, yeah, that makes sense, Betty. Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”

“Okay, but now will both of you stop acting so weird?” she asked. Betty took a few steps and Jughead followed her back into the building, still text messaging. As they turned the corner to her locker, she saw Fangs and Sweet Pea talking outside the closed door of the teacher’s lounge. When Jughead and Betty were near enough, they flashed smiles in their direction. “Hey guys,” Betty said, smiling back. Then she glanced at Jughead. “Is it okay for me to get my lunch now? Or is it rigged to explode, or something?”

He held up his hands. “I don’t know what you mean, Betty. Go right ahead.”

She wasn’t going to believe him for a second, but she turned and put in her combination anyway. It looked like someone had run something sticky over the lockers around hers. Betty glanced at the fuzzy scum and thought ruefully that it was only the first day of school--what made people mess up the building so quickly?

She withdrew her lunch and walked with all three boys toward the cafeteria. Sweet Pea and Jughead were talking lightly about playing Mortal Kombat in the Whyte Wyrm, lamenting Riverdale’s glaring lack of an arcade now that it was closed. Betty still felt curious about his strange behavior, but she let it go for the time being. She’d ask him what was going on when they were alone, later.

After school, she unlocked the door of the Blue and Gold office and stepped inside. Rows of computers stared back at her, ready to be shaken from their summer hibernation. After all the work she’d done for the Register, Betty was looking at her extracurricular duty without her usual enthusiasm.

Moments later, she heard the door open. Looking up from her computer, she saw a familiar beanie-clad individual making his way across the room. In the relative privacy the Blue and Gold office afforded them, Jughead leaned down and kissed her.

Betty regarded him happily. Even if she wasn’t looking forward to dredging up weekly articles for the school paper, it felt good to be back.

“You going to tell me what was happening earlier, Jug?” She asked, looking up at him.

He smiled ruefully, caught, and said, “Not a chance, Betty. It’s nothing to worry about.”

They were putting together a back-to-school spread when the door opened again and Mr. Foster stuck his head inside. Seeing Betty and Jughead typing away, he let himself into the room as he said, “Uh, Betty? Do you have a minute?”

She stopped typing immediately and nodded, rising from her chair. Mr. Foster waved one hand, glancing over at Jughead. “What is it, Mr. Foster?” she asked.

He was holding the books they’d annotated for their summer reading. Raising them, he said, “I just wanted to compliment you--both of you--on your work. Most students don’t get this far during the summer. You really went above and beyond my expectations.”

Betty and Jughead looked at each other. Tilting her head a bit, she said, “It’s just what you asked us to do, isn’t it?”

Mr. Foster nodded. “Yes, and that’s why I felt like I owed you an apology,” he said. “Earlier, when we spoke outside of class, I was worried that your...choices this summer might have changed your academic focus. I just wanted to come and admit that I was wrong, and let you know that I’m proud of your work.”

Whatever she thought he’d come to discuss, it certainly wasn’t that. At least this conversation confirmed what she’d suspected all day--the teachers had been talking about her joining the Serpents, and that was why people kept pulling her aside to privately offer their personal support. Betty smiled in response to Mr. Foster’s admission, feeling herself relax a bit.

“Thanks, Mr. Foster,” she said.

He nodded and looked toward Jughead. “I’ll leave you both to it, then,” he said, turning toward the door. “Keep up the good work, both of you.” With that, he left.

Betty sat back down, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes in relief. When she opened them, Jughead was looking at her curiously.

“He pulled you out of class?” he asked.

She shrugged, looking back at her screen and dragging the mouse to adjust a margin. “I think all the teachers I saw today did,” she commented neutrally. “And some of the teachers that don’t even have me this year.”

Jughead shook his head and said, “At least they didn’t make you put on a uniform, I guess.”

Betty sighed, seeing the irony in his statement. When Jughead came back from Southside High wearing a Serpent jacket and sporting a new tattoo, the school staff had reacted by threatening to kick him back out again. Just like always, for Jughead, it didn’t matter that he’d been attending this district all of his life. They’d reported him for arson just because he’d played with matches as a kid. The teachers on the Northside had always been naturally suspicious of him, ready to believe the worst.

In contrast, they’d reacted to Betty’s new affiliations with concern and offers of support. The double-standard was still alive and well, and the more she saw it, the more she wanted to scream. Betty thoughtfully tapped her fingers next to her computer mouse, staring at her blank layout. Was there a way to expose this issue in print?

She was jared from her thoughts when Veronica poked her head in the door. “Uh, Betty?” she said cautiously, raising one hand in greeting to Jughead. “It’s time for Vixen practice.”

Betty glanced at the clock on the computer and bolted out of her chair. She followed Veronica to the locker room, pausing only to lean down and give Jughead a quick kiss as she passed him. Without saying, she knew he’d keep working in the Blue and Gold office until practice was done. Cheryl had forbidden him to loiter around the gym and watch last year, and Betty was sure that she’d only relinquish her authority as cheer captain if the fresh gang leader pried it out of her cold, manicured fingers. In some things, Cheryl still implicitly remained in control.

As Betty and Veronica changed into their practice clothes, Ginger Lopez turned to stare in revulsion at the tattoo on Betty’s leg. She turned to Tina and whisper-shouted, “Oh my god, Betty Cooper really did become a Serpent slut over the summer.”

She put her hand on Veronica’s arm to stop her from reacting, quietly shaking her head. As they had that quiet exchange, Cheryl came up behind Ginger and Tina. Throwing her arms around their shoulders, she said, “What was that I heard you saying about my dear cousin, bitches?”

Veronica’s eyes flashed at the derogatory term, but she kept her mouth shut. In this instant, Ginger and Tina deserved it. Both turned to look at Cheryl, immediately contrite.

“Oh, Cheryl,” said Tina, her cheeks flushing. “You know, the Cooper sisters...they just can’t keep their hands to themselves?”

Ginger winced as she said it. Whatever animosity Cheryl had felt toward Betty because of Polly’s involvement with her brother last year, it had clearly evaporated after everything they’d unwillingly been through together.

Silence stretched between them before Cheryl drew her arms off their shoulders, pushing her way between them to her locker. “I thought it might have been something insipid like that,” she said. Not looking back at them, she said, “No one wants to listen to your damage, Karen and Gretchen. Be gone, both of you.”

With that, she drew her t-shirt over her head to change for practice. That gave everyone a perfect view of the serpent tattoo she’d recently gotten on her left hip, still looking a little red and angry. Ginger and Tina looked quickly at each other and hurried away to the gym, waiting to start whispering until they’d gone through the door. Betty looked at Cheryl with her eyebrows raised in semi-amusement.

“A little much, don’t you think?” she asked, smirking.

Cheryl pulled her shorts up and let go of the waistband with a _snap_ , turning. “In unity, there is strength, cousin Betty,” she quipped with a wide smile. “Now let’s go and put these new recruits through hell.”

By the time Betty was changed back into her street clothes, collecting her Serpent jacket from her locker, she felt like she could have laid down and slept for a week. The day had been long and exhausting, and she knew it was only half over by now. Before she shut her locker, she saw a pair of familiar battered converse on the ground. With a smile, she closed the door and leaned against it.

“Need a ride?” asked her boyfriend, also smiling.

Betty slid her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him close, pressing her lips against his. They didn’t linger long, knowing that some of the staff would still be sweeping through the building to make sure the students had gone home. Instead, Betty slipped her hand into Jughead’s and walked toward the parking lot.

During the short ride to Pop’s, she slid her arms around him and closed her eyes. It hadn’t been a bad first day back, not really. But it hadn’t been the best day of her life, either. In the end, Betty knew that she’d be going home to deal with her mom later that night, much as she’d rather be going to a certain tent in the woods with a certain beanie-wearing boyfriend. If her arms held him just a little bit tighter, she didn’t notice. At least the one constant in her life was how much she loved Jughead Jones, and nothing was going to change that for Betty.

When they got to Pop’s, Betty had hardly sat down in her booth before Veronica appeared at her side, just a touch out of breath.

“Betty, I need your help, _now_ ,” she said urgently, not bothering with a greeting. Of course, Betty jumped out of her seat and let her friend grab her hand, pulling her toward the staircase that led to Veronica’s underground project.

As her eyes adjusted to the (tasteful) dim lighting, Betty found herself staring at a frantic Veronica, clutching hangers with two outfits, one in each hand. Before the spots from the sunlight upstairs had fully cleared from her vision, Veronica was thrusting an outfit forward and saying, “Can you try this on for me, please? I tried doing it myself, but I need to see someone else modeling in this space so that I can decide which one we’ll go with for the waitstaff.”

Smiling in relief at Veronica’s ‘emergency’, Betty took the outfit and began to kick off her shoes. No one else was with them, so she had no issue with changing in the middle of what would soon become a classy cocktail lounge. As she was positioning the pencil skirt over her hips, she glanced over at Veronica.

“Since I’m helping you out, V,” she said, going out on a limb, “Did Archie mention anything to you about something that happened this afternoon? He and Jughead were acting very strange around lunch.”

The brunette’s eyes flicked from the outfit up to Betty’s face in an instant, sticken. Then, Betty knew that she’d found someone who would tell her the truth. She cocked an eyebrow, giving Veronica a pleading look. “Fine,” she said, glancing over at the door. “I _heard_ that some low-life decided to write something nasty over your locker, but our gallant men made sure that it got taken care of.”

Now she _had_ to know. Betty reached behind her neck to tug up the zipper on the top. “What did they write?” she asked, her tone even.

Betty and Veronica had been through enough that there was no reason for either of them to pad the truth, at this point in their lives. With a sigh, Veronica said, “You’re not going to let it go, Betty? Even if it was just some hurtful slander?”

Betty shook her head, turning and holding out her arms for Veronica to inspect the uniform. Pursing her lips, she ran a critical eye from head to toe and shook her head. “I’ll try the other one,” Betty agreed, turning so that Veronica could unzip her.

Veronica’s voice came from behind her shoulder. “It said ‘Black Hood's Little Bitch’--but really, Betty, some people are such ignorant fools--”

She turned quickly, regarding her friend in shock. She was expecting that the graffiti had said something about her newfound affiliation with the Southside, like the year before when someone had painted ‘Serpent Slut’ across her locker in pig’s blood. Betty had been counting it as a blessing that the entire first day of school went by without anyone mentioning the Black Hood or her imprisoned father--and now, looking at Veronica’s stricken expression, she was realizing that the radio silence hadn’t been an accident.

“Did you guys--” Betty started to ask, but her friend pressed her lips together resolutely.

“Sorry, Betty, I already said too much. I promised Archie that I wouldn’t say anything. He told me that Jughead had it taken care of, so you’ll just have to ask him,” she said.

That put a strange taste in Betty's mouth. As grateful as she was to Jughead and Archie for keeping her in the dark about this, she couldn't help wondering what exactly Archie meant by Jughead getting it 'taken care of'. Considering the way he'd sent Cheryl off to change earlier, she chewed her lip and glanced toward the door to the upstairs. So far, Jughead had been nothing but reticent to flex the muscles of his position--but then, nothing had really given him a reason to call on any favors. Last year, 'protecting' the Serpents had nearly gotten him killed. Betty just hoped that whatever happened today wasn't going to put him in harm's way again.

One quick model later and a very brief discussion about cream blouses or navy blue, Betty was on her way back upstairs with a mission. She was going to have to put a stop to this before Jughead--or anyone else--got hurt. As she came through the doorway near the restrooms, her eyes were already scanning the restaurant for her boyfriend.

Betty came to the end of his table and put her hands on her hips, looking down at him. He froze with his mouth open to take another bite of the half-eaten burger he’d raised from his plate and looked up at her.

“Crisis averted?” he asked curiously, trying to be funny.

Betty slid into the booth across from him without letting the gravity of her expression waver. She held his blue eyes with hers and said, “What happened at school today that you didn’t tell me about, Jug?”

He tried to put another bite of his hamburger in his mouth, but Betty reached across the table as quick as lightning and caught his arm. She narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, no, Jones. You’ve been eating your way out of unpleasant conversations since the sixth grade. What is it you aren’t telling me?”

He sighed and put down his burger, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of Veronica’s lounge. “Archie must have said something to Veronica?” he asked, resigned.

Betty shook her head. “Just what it said on my locker, and that you _had it taken care of_. What sort of godfather nonsense is that?”

The tension stretched between them. Then Jughead laughed abruptly, surprising her. With amusement, he asked, “Do you really think I’ve got that sort of power, Betts? That my dad leaves me an unholy mess to clean up, and suddenly I can put hits out on high school students?”

Her irritated look faltered, but only for a moment. Betty could clearly see the humor in what she’d said, but he still hadn’t answered any of her questions. Picking up a french fry from the edge of his plate, she said, “Tell me what happened, Jughead,” and popped it into her mouth.

He slid his phone out of his pocket and set it on the table, unlocking it. “Fangs and Sweet Pea cleaned it up while Archie and I kept you busy,” he said. “And just so that you can see that I’m not some sort of mafia kingpin, I texted them and asked nicely if they would help me out.”

Betty glanced at the screen but didn’t read the messages. She looked back up at Jughead, feeling a little bit more calm. “I believe you,” she said, taking another fry. “And thank you, Jug, but I don't want this to become a usual thing. You asked me to join you, and I said that I would. We're partners--you have to trust that I can handle these things.”

He tilted his head to one side. "Are you asking me not to protect you?" he searched her eyes, somber. "I don't think I can do that, Betty. Doing what I can to keep you safe and happy is a part of my DNA. I love you."

She covered his hand with hers. "I love you too," she echoed, her irritation starting to fade in the face of his reasoning. Still, she said, "I can fight my own battles, Jughead. I don't need you--or anyone else--getting hurt because of me. Thank you for what you did today. But next time, give me a little credit. I've dealt with what happened because of my dad, and some graffiti isn't going to give me a breakdown." 

"I know," he twined his fingers between hers and the contact dissipated the last of the nerves she was feeling about the situation. When it came down to it, her day would have been utterly terrible if he hadn't done what he'd done. Instead, it had just been long and awkward. Having said what she needed to say, Betty felt like they'd reached an understanding and she was willing now to let it go. Jughead withdrew his hand and pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking down with a sigh as he unlocked it. “There's one other thing you should know about today,” he admitted, tapping his phone screen a few more times. “When Cheryl heard what happened, she and Toni decided to track down the person who did it.”

“ _What?_ ” Betty snapped, glancing around Pop’s to see if anyone was in earshot of their conversation. Sliding Jughead’s phone toward herself, she looked down at the screen.

There was a photo of a kid that Betty didn’t know, someone who looked like he was a year or two younger than most of her friends, his cheek swollen below his left eye and his arms behind his back. He looked like he’d been tied to a chair. She frowned at the phone then looked curiously up at her boyfriend.

“I got this message from Cheryl a few minutes ago. Do you know him?” Jughead asked, keeping his tone low.

She shook her head. “No,” she said, looking back at the phone. “It’s hard to tell, though--Jesus, Jughead, did they do this to him?”

He shrugged one shoulder and leaned back, sliding his phone back into his pocket. As he did so, Betty saw that Pop Tate was approaching their table. He smiled amicably at her and she smiled back at him, folding her hands nonchalantly on the formica surface before her.

“Hello, Betty,” he said when he arrived. “What can I do for you tonight?”

She didn’t bother looking at the menu. “Just some chili cheese fries and an old fashioned vanilla, Pop,” she said, and added a sweet, “Please.”

He nodded and turned away. “Coming right up, Betty.”

Once he was far enough away, Betty gave Jughead a worried look. “They didn’t say anything else? Have you called them? What if they got the wrong person?”

He opened his mouth to reply but closed it again as the door jingled. Betty couldn’t help glancing over her shoulder, feeling like every muscle in her body tensed as Cheryl and Toni walked through the door. The petite Serpent grabbed Cheryl’s hand as they made their way in the direction of Betty and Jughead.

Before they arrived at the booth, Betty slid into the spot next to her boyfriend. He finally took another bite of his hamburger. When the girls joined them, he was still chewing. Betty watched them both, feeling her stomach writhe with nerves as they nonchalantly arranged themselves across the booth.

“All settled, Jughead,” Toni said calmly, picking up a menu from behind the napkin dispenser.

Betty bit her lip subconsciously. Jughead noticed, pulling her against his side with one arm so that her head rested on his shoulder. He glanced at Betty before saying, “Who is he?”

Cheryl reached over and took one of his fries too, munching calmly. Did her knuckles look more red than usual?

Toni leaned forward, staring levelly at them, and said, “It was Evan Klump.”

Betty jerked like she’d been hit physically with the words. She didn’t realize that she’d put her hands over her mouth until she moved them to speak. “Midge’s brother?” she asked, her voice little more than a squeaky whisper.

Jughead’s arm tightened around her.

“Nothing to worry about any more, sweet cousin Betty,” said Cheryl, smiling. “The young Klump understands us, and he won’t be bothering you again.”

Toni relaxed and added, “No Serpent stands alone, Betty. Your fights are our fights, now.”

She looked up at Jughead, whose mouth was conveniently filled again. He wiggled his eyebrows and raised one shoulder at her.

Betty looked back across the table and sighed. “I hope you didn’t hurt him too badly?” she asked.

Cheryl rolled her eyes. “No more than he deserved,” she said dryly.

When Pop Tate brought her food, Betty picked at it as her friends talked around her. Thinking about the events of the day, and the consequences that Cheryl and Toni might face for roughing up an underclassman, was turning the food into ash on her tongue. She couldn't muster up the energy to share in the friendly banter at the table. If Cheryl or Toni noticed that something was wrong, they didn't let on. Jughead, though, could tell that Betty was spiraling. She might be able to tell her boyfriend to back off, but the rest of their friends were bulldozers in their own rights, and she knew it. He kept his arm around her and occasionally pressed unobtrusive kisses onto the top of her head. She kept her hands busy pushing chili around her plate with her french fries, sometimes remembering to act like she was enjoying herself.

Finally, the moment came that they were getting ready to leave. The plates were cleared away, Cheryl and Toni said their goodbyes, and Betty slid out of the booth. She wrapped her arms around Jughead as they climbed onto the back of his motorcycle, pressing her head firmly against his back. Since she'd ridden across town to Pop's a thousand, thousand times in her life, she felt the instant that he turned left instead of right.

When they reached the parking lot, he parked and killed the engine. Betty climbed down with a sort of numb acceptance, sliding the helmet off her head. As soon as she did, Jughead had his arms around her and she was breathing in the scent of him at the soft space where his neck met his shoulder.

"Betty," he said, "Betty." And again, "Betty."

She held him like he was the only thing keeping her grounded, like letting go would mean that she'd hurtle into the endless void of the guilt that had been swallowing her ever since she'd watched those 35 millimeter films with her father. And it still wasn't over--the black hole of her family's horrible legacy was still sucking people in, putting them in danger, pitting them against one another. Even in jail, her father was still messing up her life. Jughead smoothed a hand over her hair and pressed his lips to her temple.

Pulling in a breath was more difficult than it should have been, but she made herself do it. Betty looked up at him and said, "Jug, what do I do?" She felt tears filling her eyes but she blinked them back. "I feel like I should just get out of here." Staying meant more trouble, for everyone. Evan Klump was just one person out of a town with a population in the thousands. The Serpents couldn't make the entire town _understand_ them, right? And as strong as Betty wanted to think that she was, she knew that she was still breakable.

He lifted her chin with one hand and met her eyes. "Then we'll go," he said, a smile tugging the corners of his lips upward.

Betty blinked in surprise. "What?" she asked.

Jughead smiled and quietly repeated himself, "Then we'll go."

"Where?" she asked, shaking her head. It wasn't the first time they'd talked about leaving Riverdale, escaping the murder and death and misfortune that seemed to surround them, but their conversations always carried an air of hypothetical wishing. Tonight, after what they'd said at Pop's, something in Jughead's tone was more serious than ever before.

He shrugged. "Wherever you want, Betty. And if you don't know, that's okay too." Jughead's forehead touched hers and he said, "I'll follow you anywhere."

She pressed her lips against his, urgently, hands winding through his shirt to pull him against her. Something about the contact helped her clear her mind. She re-focued, thought about what he was saying, and allowed herself to think again about how strongly she felt about the boy that she considered her foundation. If she really wanted to leave, she knew that Jughead meant what he said.

Then Betty thought about her mom, who was probably sitting at home and waiting for her. She thought about her sister, who had lived the dream that Betty was imagining, taking her babies and leaving for the coast. She thought about Veronica, relying on them to be there when she opened her business later that week. And Archie, who was as much a part of Betty's life as her family had always been. It would be insane to leave--absolutely, utterly, crazy. Wouldn't that just be giving the universe the satisfaction it was craving, like giving up? Betty Cooper had never given up on anything in her life. Still, as she thought through all the reasons to stay, the urge to leave was still rising within her like bile. 

"No," she said, shaking her head as they separated. "We can't go, Jughead. People need us here."

He nodded solemnly, reaching out to tuck a stray curl of hair behind her ear. "Is this just because of today?"

Betty couldn't keep herself from anxiously biting her lip, even when he was close enough to kiss her again if he wanted to. "Sort of," she admitted, glancing away. And that was the truth, as far as she understood her feelings. She'd known since the summer, when they were arrested together, what sort of consequences would she would face for the decisions she'd made. It wasn't until today that she'd really come to understand that Betty Cooper, as she'd previously known herself, was dead. The person standing in front of her boyfriend was a new girl completely, full of possibilities, unlimited by anyone's expectations but her own. For Betty, who had grown up making everyone around her happy, it felt terrifying to know that she'd finally made a decision that purely served herself. There were no expectations to meet when one joined their boyfriend's gang, and Betty's life had always been directed with the compass of an ideal that no one could possibly live up to. Today, more than anything, reinforced that she was in uncharted territory.

"I meant it," Jughead said, his hands squeezing her just a little bit tighter. "Whatever you want, Betty. I'm yours."

Whatever guilt she felt about their friends standing up for her--against their other friends, who she thought she could have trusted--she realized in that moment that she'd just have to accept what they'd done. This was her truth now, and the Serpents were going to be there to help her with her battles. She leaned into Jughead's arms, letting herself nestle against his chest and borrow some of his steadiness, fighting with herself to dispel the need for flight. If Betty was really honest with herself, given everything that the town of Riverdale had to offer--wasn't that backup just what she needed?

**Author's Note:**

> So I was re-watching season one as I wrote this, and I hope it doesn't feel too jumbled. It was difficult to fit all of this stuff into a one-shot, thank you for dealing with my time lapses.
> 
> I so appreciate all the kudos and comments that have been left on this collection! They truly make writing worth it. I'd love to see season 3 open with some of this type of drama--I'm sure Riverdale will be shook if Betty accepts Jughead's "proposal" and they go down this route!


End file.
